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First, on a relatively-serious note, apparently I am not the only one fed up with Sherrod Brown’s tireless advocacy of polluting free-riders. The business-as-usual skeptics at 350.org have decided to call shenanigans on Sherrod, and hope to launch a campaign shaming him for an April vote to dilute Clean Air Act regulations.

Good. I’ve already kicked in a bit of cash, and I hope others will do so as well. You cannot be a friend to the lying delusional profiteers who run the coal industry and to progressive Democrats both. If we just go on giving Democrats a pass because the Republican alternative is always worse on some issues and never really better on any, what the fuck can we be said to actually stand for?

In his blog post, 350er Jamie Henn alleges a friend from Ohio expressing hesitancy, saying “I feel a little bit nervous funding an ad going after Sherrod.”

Well, get over it, Nellie.

Moving on to the category of farce…

I really hope that one of these months the reality that Osama bin Laden is actually dead will catch up to news media, and we can stop seeing and hearing his name everywhere. But, I have to acknowledge the reports of “revenge attacks” and threats of same, just because it’s so fucking silly that it’s actually entertaining.

I mean, I feel like Walter blowing up at the nihilists when they demand a ransom after their lack of a hostage became common knowledge.

Seriously, you al-kaseltzer guys: you’re offended because U.S. Navy Seals killed your figurehead? Who are the fucking terrorists here??!? You’ve already committed yourselves to war on the United States and our allies! What the fuck conceivable meaning is there in your swearing, now, to attack us? I thought that was your fucking plan anyway, dipshits! What, you were kind of half-assing it lately but now you’re really mad? You expect to send this message and then deliver credible threats? Again, you were already supposed to be an active terrorist organization committed to violent action against us; threatening violence does not afford you any further fucking leverage at this point!

“WHAT ARE YOU, A BUNCH OF FUCKING CRYBABIES?!”

Sheeeeeeeesh.

I woke up this morning and checked the news, as per usual, and naturally I thought it was a joke at first. But no, April 1 was a month ago… I promptly turned to Professor Juan Cole, who of late had already become required reading once again anyway, and yes it apparently has in fact happened. Osama bin Laden, dead.

One thing in Cole’s write-up really caught my eye, however, when he wrote that “the Pakistani news channel Geo [...] says that Pakistani troops and plainsclothesmen helped cordon off the compound in Abbotabad.”

Apparently—having confirmed it at the BBC—bin Laden was found in a “compound” or bunker of some sort “in Abbottabad.”

Which I found faintly amusing because, you see, I’ve actually heard of Abbottabad before. (more…)

Continuing in the category of surprising/impressive things which I post about mostly just to record, for myself, House Rejects Extensions Of Patriot Act Provisions.

Yes, you read that right. Now the bad news: the collected Representatives actually voted 277-148 to extend these extensions of the security state. The extension was then, presumably only temporarilly, blocked by some sort of procedural shenanigan. (And, while I can’t complain about the outcome, isn’t it bad enough having this shit in the Senate?)

Most of the opposition, it’s worth noting, came from Democrats including my very own congressman, Dennis Kucinich; as ever, the guy’s a nut but god damn his voting record is so incredibly good. (When I heard that this was up for renewal I thought “I suppose there’s really no need for me to write my congressman.”) Our Democratic presidency however, unhelpfully if unsurprisingly, favors expanded executive power; apparently they support renewing these provisions to maintain the “certainty and predictability that our nation’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies require.”

Hey, I got a wild thought: if you require certainty and predictability, maybe you shouldn’t choose a career in counterterrorism…? Just maybe.

I think the winner for best quote, however, is “Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the former Judiciary Committee chairman who authored the 2001 Patriot Act [and] urged his colleagues to support the extensions, saying they were needed as a stopgap until permanent statutes could be agreed upon.” [Emphasis mine.]

Uh, it’s TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN Jimmo. If you’re still relying on legislation passed in two thousand ONE “as a stopgap,” just maybe it’s time to re-examine your assumptions about the prospects for agreement upon “permanent statutes.”

Frankly I think David Reese’s comment on this matter will really never be bettered. I’m paraphrasing, but basically: “The USA PATRIOT Act. Grown-ups came up with that.” If the name alone doesn’t tell you about all that you need to know, you’re a lost cause.